Stewart Udall, 90; was Interior Secretary

Stewart Udall , who sparked the environmental conservation movement in the 1960s as secretary of the interior, died Saturday at age 90.

Udall was patriarch of the Udall family - a sort of Rocky Mountain dynasty of Democratic politicians, all united in a deep appreciation of Western U.S. landscapes and values. If not for Udall - his 50 missions as a gunner in World War II, his unflagging commitment to preserving America's wildest places, his zeal for outdoor life and his provocative support of Native Americans sickened in the country's first uranium mines - his brother, son and nephew might never have carried his vision onward.

His brother Morris Udall served 30 years in Congress. His son Tom, also a congressman, became a senator in 2008, the same year his nephew Mark became a U.S. Senator for Colorado.

"He told us to take the 'United States' in our titles very seriously," said U.S. Sen. Mark Udall . "United States Senator, then your district and then your political party. His allegiance was in that order. 'Out of Many One, E pluribus unum.' That really resonated with him."

When Mark Udall won his senate seat in 2008, his uncle - a father figure who inspired his nephew's passion for scaling the West's high places - told him:

"Who would imagine that an old, broken down mountain climber who wasn't a lawyer could get elected to the United States Senate," Udall said, laughing at his uncle's fervent humor.

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Udall, who also served as a congressman, worked eight years as secretary of the interior under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. During that time, Udall magnified public lands and aggressively championed environmental protection. He helped write some of the world's most expansive environmental legislation, including the predecessor of today's Endangered Species Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the Wilderness Act, which protects millions of untrammeled acres from logging, mining and machines.

Udall seized opportunities to protect America's hinterlands, adding some 60 areas to the National Park System. He established four national parks - including Utah's Canyonlands in 1965 - and dozens of national seashores and monuments.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said Udall was "one of the greatest Secretaries of the Interior in my lifetime."

"(He) was a pioneer and visionary in protecting America's natural resources and cultural heritage who exemplified his family's commitment to public service," Salazar said in a statement.

The scope of his environmental accomplishments could easily rank as Udall's crowning achievement. But Udall was most proud of his decades-long work on behalf of Native Americans - especially Navajos from his native Arizona - who developed cancer and fell ill from working in uranium mines, Mark Udall said.

He began battling for sickened Navajo miners in the 1970s, after leaving Washington. He sued the federal government on behalf of Navajo miners who developed lung cancer from uranium exposure. That case failed at the U.S. Supreme Court, which left Udall "deeply disappointed, even angered," Mark Udall said.

Udall redirected his dismay toward Washington, where he lobbied for congressional investigations that ultimately led to the 1990 Radiation Exposure Safety Act, which Udall helped write and compensated thousands of Americans.

"He fought hard to bring justice to not just uranium miners, but for any victims exposed to uranium tailings and mining and radiation," said Esther Yazzie-Lewis , a Navajo who co-authored the book "The Navajo People and Uranium Mining," for which Udall penned the foreward, citing "humanitarian failures of the national government."

Udall pursued an outdoor life to his last days, his nephew said. Up until about 10 years ago he continued to do river trips, even paddling down the Grand Canyon. He was always eager to plan his next excursion into the backcountry, Mark Udall said.

He died peacefully at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, surrounded by family.

"The sadness I feel is in some part a sadness for losing a generation and a role model for all of us," Mark Udall said.

Not all kids who play baseball are uniformed with fancy script across their chests, traveling to $1,000 instructional camps and drilled how to properly hit the cut-off man. Some kids just play to play.